Having a dog become lost in an unfamiliar place is one of every pet owner’s greatest fears. It’s a constant worry for us – even though we’ve traveled thousands of miles with our various pack members over the years. We’ve had a few close calls and have learned some things from our past mistakes.
Here are some of the strategies that we use to make sure that we keep our friends from getting lost while traveling.
To Keep Your Dog From Getting Lost, Follow a Routine & Keep Them Leashed
If you’re on a road trip, hiking or camping with your dog, the novelty of your destination may cause you to deviate from your normal routine with your pet. All it takes is one false move to lose your dog while on vacation.
In the woods, anything can distract your dog and send them bounding out of sight in a heartbeat. While they may have great recall at home in the absence of distractions, they may not come when called in the locations to which you’ve traveled, especially if your dog has never before seen a deer, elk, coyote – or Rocky the flying squirrel.
When we lived in Salida, Colorado, we hiked quite a lot along sections of the Colorado Trail and found several lost dogs who’d become separated from their owners. We even saw a group of horseback riders almost get bucked off their mounts as a hiker’s off-leash dog (who’d probably never seen horses before) ran among them, nipping at their legs.
Stop and think about the potential for your beloved dog to become lost in a 250,000 acre wilderness before even considering letting them go off-leash.
Get A Good Quality Collar With Your Dog’s ID Embroidered Onto It
Your dog should never go without wearing a collar that has their ID tags attached, along with their rabies vaccination tag. There are unfortunately some animal control agencies out there that will euthanize a dog within only a few days if they don’t have a updated rabies tag attached to their collar. Your pet’s ID tag should be engraved with your most current cell phone number (with area code), address and your dog’s name, plus an alternate phone number such as a pet sitter or vet, and any medical conditions.
Tags can fall off, so make sure they’re attached with sturdy, stainless steel dog tag attachment rings and don’t use large ones that might become snagged on objects and trap your pet. To add another layer of safety, we recommend that you purchase a sturdy nylon collar with your pet’s name and your phone number printed clearly on it, just in case the tags come off.
If your dog has any issues that you want someone to be aware of – such as deafness, blindness, dog aggression, etc. – there are collar covers called “Bark Notes” made by a company called Canine Friendly which are made of rugged silicone and slip over the band of your dog’s collar. Lulu Belle is wearing one in the photo below – over her collar, which has her name and phone number embroidered onto it.
Don’t Trust Fences
If you stay in an Airbnb or other rental while traveling (see our post on tips for staying with your dog in Airbnb’s ) make sure that you check out your host’s fencing situation before letting your dog off leash in their yard. What may be described as a “secure fenced yard” by the host may not be suitable for your own dog. We’ve found quite a few weak spots and holes in yard fences at some of the places we’ve stayed.
Be Cautious When Using Tie Outs WIth Any Pet
Responsible dog owners would never tie out a dog and then leave them unattended. Many dogs die each year when irresponsible owners leave them tied up and unattended – a practice which can result in strangulation if pets become tangled up in the chain or rope. If you see this practice while camping, please let the park host know about it immediately.
Keep Your Dog From Jumping Out Of Your Vehicle’s Window
One way that dogs can get lost while traveling with you on vacation is by jumping out the window of your vehicle. Whether it’s moving or stopped, dogs may see something compelling enough to cause them to jump out. We use BreezeGuard dog window screens to help keep our dogs inside the vehicle, and keep them cooler when we’re parked. Even with these on both rear window, we never leave our dogs unattended in the vehicle at any time.
Consider Getting A GPS Pet Tracker – But Know Their Limitations
When it comes to GPS pet finders, there are two main types.
The Two Main Categories of Dog GPS Trackers
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Dog Trackers that use GPS and Cell Phone Networks. These dog trackers require a monthly or yearly subscription plan (usually around $8 a month) and send your dog’s location to their network via cell phone signal. Fi, Whistle Go Explore and FitBark trackers use cell phone technology. You can use an app on your phone to see where your dog is at all times, with limitations. Some GPS dog trackers allow you to have a two-way conversation with anyone who finds your dog.
The downside to these, aside from the monthly subscription fee, is that you may not have a cell phone signal in many remote camping areas, rendering the dog tracker basically useless in many places off the beaten path.
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Dog Trackers that use GPS and Short Range Radio Signals. These dog finders don’t use cell phone networks and don’t require a subscription. Instead they use a short range radio signal, along with a handheld display to help you find your dog. PetFon, SportDog and Findster Duo are dog trackers that use this type of technology.
The downside is that if your pet goes out of range, or if signal is limited by obstructions such as trees or hills, these may not work. The upside is that these trackers will work in remote areas where there is no cell phone signal. Most have a range up to 3 miles, but the SportDOG models work up to 10 miles under ideal conditions. Range varies greatly with terrain.
Which Kind of GPS Dog Tracker Should You Choose?
If you’ll be traveling mostly off the beaten path and camping on BLM land and in National Forests where cell phone reception is spotty, then a radio-type tracker may be your best bet. Just be aware that if your dog goes out of range you won’t be able to track them anymore.
If you’re going to be camping just off the beaten path, where there is usually cell phone reception, you should probably choose a GPS dog tracker that utilizes cell phone networks to track your dog. These are fairly inexpensive and you may have the option of going month by month and only activating your tracker when you go on vacation.
Note that not all of these cellular network type dog GPS trackers use the same phone company networks. Before getting one, find out which network (Verizon, ATT, etc.) works best for where you’re going to spend the most time and then choose a good model that uses that cell phone network.
Neither type of GPS dog trackers will work if you forget to charge them. Check to see what the battery life is and make sure they’re charged up before going on a road trip with your dogs.
Our Take On Dog Trackers
We’ve tried a couple different brands and kinds of GPS dog trackers including Whistle Go Explore and Fi GPS collars. We ultimately settled on Fi collars for both our dogs. They last up to a month between charging, have escape alerts, fitness tracking and use a longer range type of signal than Whistle Go Explore collars. We don’t let our dogs run off leash except for in fenced areas, but these collars give us peace of mind that we could find our dogs if they somehow escaped.
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Use Lighted Dog Collars at Night
In addition to keeping your dog (and you) safe while walking, a lighted dog collar is a great thing to have when camping or hiking with your dog at night. If your pet does become separated from you at night, you can easily spot them from a distance. These LED collars come in USB rechargeable and battery powered versions. We like the battery versions, since they tend to have a longer run time, but also own a set of the rechargeable ones – which run for about 4-5 hours and which are great for evening walks. Both types are adjustable by cutting the heavy plastic tubing to fit your dog’s neck.
You can find Nite Howl collars here on Amazon.
Lost Deaf Dogs Can’t Hear You Calling Them
We recently had an incident while camping with our deaf dog, Lulu Belle. In the middle of the night she somehow managed to nose her way out of the tent by unzipping the flap. We looked over to see her gone and frantically began searching the campground at two in the morning. We found Lulu Belle visiting the campsite next door, where thankfully one of the campers was still awake and offering her treats while their friend was out searching for her owners.
Now when camping with our dogs, we often keep an LED collar on both of them at night – even while we’re sleeping – so that we can instantly tell where they are in the tent. The soft glow that the collars give off also helps as a night light. We also now make it a habit to keep our tent’s zipper positioned well above doggie access level.
These are our suggestions for keeping your dog from getting lost on a camping or hiking trip. Please feel free to share your own tips for how to keep your dog safe while traveling. For more suggestions on keeping our animal friends safe, please check out our article “What To Do If You’ve Found A Dog While Traveling”.
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